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G. A. Putnam, of Ontario. We have of course tlie same (luestion befi)re u.« as you 

 have, that of more money; ami it matters httle whether it sliall l)ethe State jrovern- 

 ment or the Federal (iovernment which sui)iiHi's tliat money. 



During the past years at these conventions (.f institute workers very complimen- 

 tary things have been said regarding the work which we are doing in Ontario, both 

 in connection with the farmers' institutes and the women's institutes; and l)ack of 

 all that one of the great forces has been "money," or at least all the other forces we 

 have w<nild have amounted to very little if we had not had the money. 80 that in 

 speaking of this (|uestii)n I would say t<> you, "get more money, by some means." 



1 wish to expre.ss my approval of the plan of central schools for institute U'cturere, 

 as outlined by our sjiecialist, Mr. Hamilton. 



AVe have one dilliculty in our institute work in Ontario, and that is that in most 

 of our audiences we have two classes to cater to, namely, the men who have attended 

 institutes for several years ami the men who are prol)ai)ly attending their lir.st insti- 

 tute meeting. Those men who have been there several yeare, and followed the work, 

 demand instruction along scientific lines. The questions that they ask indi(;ate that 

 they have been reading the reports and have been studying, and they do not want 

 mere facts thrown at them; they want to inquire into the latest scientific investiga- 

 tion. But if we cater wholly to tho.se men, then there are a large number of men 

 who do not know even the rudiments of agriculture, who will not be benefited. 

 So that it api)ears to me that we may have to do away with the one-day meetings 

 and introduce more two-day meetings; and in that way we may be able to overcome 

 the difficulty. 



W. R. DoosoN, of Louisiana. There are a great many admirable things in the 

 president's address, but there is one thing that ought not to be passed without some 

 expression of protest from those who differ. President Hardy says that the scien- 

 tifie investigator should think more of making the results of his investigation of 

 value to the farmer, and pay less attention to w-hat scientific men should say about 

 his results. I believe he is wrong there. I think the first purpose shinild be for 

 a man to find out that he is absolutely on firm ground, and if any scientific man can 

 tear down anything he has done or said, then his work is incomplete and it is not 

 going to be of great value to the farmer until he has discovered the truth. In scien- 

 tific work the same thing holds true that holds true with regard to a witness on the wit- 

 ness stand. We are told that if a man sticks rigidly to the truth, it is impossible for 

 him to contradict himself; and in scientific investigation, w'hen a man has got on the 

 solid rock of truth, he is going to stay right there and nothing can tear him down; 

 and his first care and first concern, I think, should be that no scientific man can 

 upset him. And then the second object should 1)e to make that truth applicable to 

 the farmers' needs. 



It should be the experiment station worker's first purpose to do research work. 

 It is seldom that the best investigator is the most efficient man to disseminate the 

 knowledge he develops. The man that can best disseminate knowledge is seldom 

 the best man to discover knowledge, and when we too strongly emphasize the teach- 

 ing or institute phase of the station employee's work, we weaken his power of 

 discovery. 



A. C. True, of the Office of Experiment Stations. The address of the president of 

 this association has brought to my mind certain tilings which have been very strongly 

 impressed upon me of late. I was jiresent the other day at the ceremonies in con- 

 nection with the installation of President James at the University of Illinois. At 

 that time, as many of you know, the degree of doctor of agriculture was conferred 

 upon the first Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Colman, of Missouri, and in connection 

 with that occasion Mr. Colman made an address regarding the work which he did in 

 the Department of Agriculture. It was brought out in that way that the work of the 

 Office of Experiment Stations began just about the same time that we had the first 



